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jasonfurman's review against another edition
4.0
The table of contents was not promising. The book promises the ten "most" beautiful experiments but doesn't have Rutherford discovering the nucleus? But it does have Galvani chopping up frogs to find out if they transmit electricity.
But as I read, I came to appreciate Johnson's idiosyncratic selections. Rather than reading the Nth treatment of classic experiments, he presents some very interesting and well-told vignettes. Especially of Galvani and the frogs. And Pavlov, who turns out to have loved his dogs.
Still, some of the vignettes, like Harvey Lavosier, were less engaging. And at some point, and this is a comment about the entire science history genre, you just do not want to spend the amount of effort the books requires to try to understand theories of two fluids pumped by the heart, phlogiston, and caloric just to learn how they were discovered to be wrong.
A final thought: someone should write a book on ten experiments that failed -- and discovered something much more important as a result. Michelson and Morley would be in it, not sure the other nine, which is why someone should write it.
But as I read, I came to appreciate Johnson's idiosyncratic selections. Rather than reading the Nth treatment of classic experiments, he presents some very interesting and well-told vignettes. Especially of Galvani and the frogs. And Pavlov, who turns out to have loved his dogs.
Still, some of the vignettes, like Harvey Lavosier, were less engaging. And at some point, and this is a comment about the entire science history genre, you just do not want to spend the amount of effort the books requires to try to understand theories of two fluids pumped by the heart, phlogiston, and caloric just to learn how they were discovered to be wrong.
A final thought: someone should write a book on ten experiments that failed -- and discovered something much more important as a result. Michelson and Morley would be in it, not sure the other nine, which is why someone should write it.
vanessakm's review against another edition
4.0
This is exactly what the title says--the ten most beautiful experiments as reckoned by the author, a science reporter for the New York Times among other publications. To clarify beautiful, his meaning is experiments that were performed by small groups or individuals rather that committees (the author points out the paper announcing the discovery of top quarks had over 400 contributors) and motivated by insatiable curiosity rather than economics.
With that in mind the author's list is as follows: Galileo (for his experiments with motion and friction), Newton, Lavoisier, Pavlov (for his famous beloved dogs), Joule, Harvey (who broke with classical views of anatomy to explain how the heart and circulation really work), Galvani (who discovered bioelectricity by sending an electrical charge thru severed frog legs), Millikan (who proved the existence of electrons with mineral oil, charged plates and a vacuum tube), Michelson (a Cleveland native whose almost forgotten experiments with mirrors and light laid some of the groundwork for relativity), and Farraday.
If you are interested in the history of science, there is a wealth of information in this slim book which clocks in around 150 pages followed by copious footnotes. This book made me wistful for the days when someone might shut themselves into a darkened room, sawing holes in shutters and moving a prism around to understand the nature of light as Newton did. I was less nostalgic for the days when someone stuck a needle behind their eyeball to figure out how the optic nerve perceived light (also Newton who fortunately didn't incur any permanent damage.)
Some of the experiments setups were complicated and difficult for me to visualize even with diagrams which makes the rating more of a 3.5 for me but this may be more my limitation than Johnson's as a writer. See what you think.
With that in mind the author's list is as follows: Galileo (for his experiments with motion and friction), Newton, Lavoisier, Pavlov (for his famous beloved dogs), Joule, Harvey (who broke with classical views of anatomy to explain how the heart and circulation really work), Galvani (who discovered bioelectricity by sending an electrical charge thru severed frog legs), Millikan (who proved the existence of electrons with mineral oil, charged plates and a vacuum tube), Michelson (a Cleveland native whose almost forgotten experiments with mirrors and light laid some of the groundwork for relativity), and Farraday.
If you are interested in the history of science, there is a wealth of information in this slim book which clocks in around 150 pages followed by copious footnotes. This book made me wistful for the days when someone might shut themselves into a darkened room, sawing holes in shutters and moving a prism around to understand the nature of light as Newton did. I was less nostalgic for the days when someone stuck a needle behind their eyeball to figure out how the optic nerve perceived light (also Newton who fortunately didn't incur any permanent damage.)
Some of the experiments setups were complicated and difficult for me to visualize even with diagrams which makes the rating more of a 3.5 for me but this may be more my limitation than Johnson's as a writer. See what you think.
stayingherself's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this - I'll admit part of why I loved the book is because I've done so many of the experiments. His description of the circumstances around the experiments is useful, and it's an easily accessible read. (I'll admit seeing my school mentioned in the prologue made me start off the book assuming it'd be awesome, but that doesn't seem like a bad thing.)
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